Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 45 (2) 2017   DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2017.45.2.087-096

Annotation:  “Ceramics” from the Zaraysk Upper Paleolithic Site Koksharovsky Kholm and Chertova Gora, Two Neolithic Sanctuaries in the Ural and in Western Siberia: Technical and Morphological Model of Chalcolithic Chopping Tools of the Russian-Karelian Type from K Geochemical Soil Analysis and Environmental Reconstructions at the Neolithic and Chalcolithic Settle Issues in the Calendar Chronology of the Seima-Turbino Transcultural Phenomenon Beads in the Finno-Ugric Women’s Costume: The Evidence of Tarasovo Cemetery on the Middle Kama (0–50 Comprehensive Geophysical Studies at the Suzdal Opolye Settlements Metal Bowls from a Medieval Cemetery at Rusenikha Newly Discovered Bronze Artifacts of the Scythian Period from Archekas Mountain, Kuznetsk Alatau Bronze Age Axes from the Forest-Steppe Altai Wooden Paddles from Trans-Urals and from Eastern and Western European Peat-Bog Sites A Golden Plaque of the Hellenistic Period from Zeravshan, Uzbekistan Albazin, a Russian Town on the Amur: Population Size in the Late 1600s The Variation of Russian Festive Ritualism in Russian Ethnography Ust-Tsilma Female Headdress: Description and Use (Mid-19th to Early 21st Century) Principles of the Information Modeling of Cultural Heritage Objects: The Case of Wooden Buddhist Tem Cranial Injuries in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Population of the Shnogh River Basin, Armenia   

Bronze Age Axes from the Forest-Steppe Altai

A.A. Tishkin and Y.V. Frolov

Altai State University, Pr. Lenina 61, Barnaul, 656049, Russia

This article describes a series of Bronze Age metal axes from the forest-steppe zone of the Altai. Most are random finds without definite cultural or chronological attribution. We provide a detailed description of four specimens from Bor-Forpost, Mamontovo, Karpovo, and Severny, owned by various museums of the Altai Territory. The chemical composition of alloys is assessed by X-ray fl uorescence spectrometry. Results are discussed with reference to bronze metallurgy, sources of copper ore, and typological parallels. The chronology of each type of axe is tentatively evaluated in the context of Middle and Late Bronze Age cultures of the Ob-Irtysh watershed and adjoining regions.

Keywords: Altai, forest-steppe, Bronze Age, axes, alloys, X-ray fluorescence analysis, chronology.